OIL & GAS: Curse or Blessing?

In a hullabaloo of argument, President
Truman tried to make up his mind last week whether he should sign or
veto the Kerr gas bill (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS). The bill's opponents
loudly damned it as the biggest raid by "special interests" since
Teapot Dome. Just as warmly, the bill's backers called it indispensable
for the further growth of the natural gas industry.

The big oil and gas companies, who had championed oil-rich Senator
Robert Kerr's bill for all they were worth, marshaled some potent
arguments on their side. Despite all the political uproar, they pointed
out that the bill,...